Even good and evil.
Adidiron snorted. “You know that and we know that, but they don’t believe it. Or worse, some of them do, but since they know the world will end by the fledgling Malachai’s hand, they’re willing to cut the deadline short and let it perish under their kinder, gentler destruction now.”
But that made no sense. Her jaw went slack. “You’re kidding me…” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew she was being rhetorical. She’d seen the madness in Sraosha’s eyes herself. For whatever reason, he wanted Nick’s throat and he wasn’t going to let anything, even world destruction, stop him from getting it. “Why have they done this?”
A ferocious tic started in Suriyel’s sculpted jaw. “Simple. When you bound Nick’s powers, you provided them the perfect opportunity to kill him while he’s too weak to stop them. Or protect himself. Right now, they don’t need you to do it. They’re more than capable and willing to end him.”
Sick to her stomach, she struggled to breathe. “What have I done?”
By trying to save Nick, she’d handed his head to his enemies on a platter.
Adidiron put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Your job.” He tightened his grip. “You’ve done nothing wrong, little sister. This sin is on their heads. They are the ones seeking salvation through destruction.”
As so many do … Kody squeezed her eyes shut as the horror of it all racked her and she tried to come to terms with her own part in this wretched play. “We can’t let them destroy everything. What do we do now? This is awful.”
Adidiron patted her shoulder before he stepped away to pace among their small group. “No, Nekoda. It’s prophecy. We’ve always known this day would come. We just didn’t know when or how.”
She arched a brow at something no one had told her. “How do you mean?”
Suriyel picked up the explanation. “In the Mashuan, it was written that the last Malachai would bring about the downfall of the Arelim.”
Adidiron inclined his head to Suriyel. “We always assumed the Malachai would defeat us in battle at the End Time.”
“Now we know better.” Suriyel folded his hands behind his back as he paced in an opposite direction. “For the first time since the Primus Bellum, we’re divided against ourselves. Our order is split and in chaos. Our brethren have become our enemies.”
“Because of the Mashuani,” Kody breathed as she finally understood what they were telling her.
The Mashuan was the tablet of fated destiny while the Mashuani was the tablet of prophecy. Twin documents that had been written by the original gods, aeons ago when the world was brand new.
The Mashuan told what was destined to happen, the other foretold ways to accomplish or divert the Mashuan. It was the tablet of what-could-be.
And it had been written on the Mashuani tablet that a Malachai would be born who could turn against his dark nature and become an instrument for good. One who could restore balance and make sure that the world didn’t end. That he held it in tandem with his brother. And so long as they stood united, nothing could destroy the world or universe.
Because Nick’s father, Adarian, had seemed more vulnerable and human than any Malachai before him, Kody had thought he was the one it’d spoken of. It was part of the reason she hadn’t killed him when she’d had the chance. Why she’d hesitated.
But one look in Adarian’s eyes as he mercilessly stabbed her while she’d been helpless before him, and she’d known better. Even though he could cleverly mimic compassion, Adarian had lacked all humanity. All decency.
It wasn’t until after that, she’d learned Adarian Malachai had been the same soulless monster who had betrayed her uncle Seth and had left him in the hands of their enemy to be brutally tortured for centuries. Even though Seth had risked his life to free Adarian from their master, Adarian had gleefully sacrificed Seth for his own selfish gain.
For that reason alone, she’d held no hope for Nick’s humanity. Surely, the son would be even worse than the father.
Yet Nick had surprised her in every way. He was the one the tablet had predicted. She was even more sure of that now. No Malachai before him had been born of a human mother. None had known love. None had been capable of love.
Not until Nick. He was nothing like the others.
He, alone, could save them.…
If he didn’t kill them first.
Terrified to think about the fact that Nick would most likely stab and kill her in the future, she faced Suriyel. In the past, he had adamantly refused to hear anything good about Nick. Like Sraosha, he’d wanted the boy slaughtered before he ascended to his Malachai role. “So you believe me now?”
Biting his lip, he glanced away. “I never would have had I not seen it with my own eyes.”
“Seen what?”
“Adarian Malachai sacrifice himself to save Cherise Gautier and their son. Against everything, that rabid animal did love her. Right to the end. Even more than himself.”
Yes, but he hadn’t known how to show it. Adarian had single-handedly ruined Cherise’s life and traumatized her. Instead of cherishing what he’d loved, he’d been abusive and mean. And that was no way to have a relationship with anyone. Marriage and friendship were built on trust and loyalty. Not deceit and lies.
Love could only be given. It could never be demanded.
But in the end, Adarian had given every bit of his power to his son so that Nick could protect his mother at all costs. As Suriyel had said, Adarian had loved Cherise completely. No Malachai before Adarian had ever placed the needs or welfare of anyone above himself. They were creatures of ultimate hatred and violence.
Of betrayal.
Yet something in Adarian had changed when he met Cherise. And while Cherise hadn’t been able to completely alter or tame the demonic beast that was Adarian, she had nurtured their son from Nick’s very beginning. Her love and kindness, her personal sacrifice for him, kept Nick anchored to her. It overrode the innate congenital need in him to be cruel and violent. To lash out in hatred and destroy everyone near him.
Including himself.
So long as Cherise remained alive, there was hope for Nick. He would do nothing to shame or harm his mother.
But when she died …
That would be the first step toward Nick’s devolution into the Malachai. It was a path Kody intended to change, no matter the cost. Given Nick’s heart and compassion, surely it could be done.
No destiny is set by any birth, no matter how lowly or how high. All creatures have the right and ability to choose who and what they become.…
Be it good or evil.
She met Suriyel’s gaze. “So you finally accept that Nick is the one the prophecy speaks of?”
He nodded. “No.”
She scowled at his contradiction.
Laughing, he let out a tired breath. “I want to believe it. I do. But you yourself faced him centuries from now. You have seen firsthand what Nick will do if he’s not stopped.”
“And I have seen a boy who is more than capable of defending himself, who had the powers of a Malachai at his command, allow a mere human to beat him to the brink of death because he made a promise to his mother to never fight again. What Malachai would ever do such?”
He glanced toward Adidiron.
Kody looked at the others. Her lips trembled from the weight of her painful emotions and memories. “I know what it is that I’m asking of you. I do. And all of you know what I have lost in this battle already.” And that included her sanity, most days. “What I stand to lose in the future if he’s not stopped.” Tears of grief filled her eyes as she relived the deaths of her family and friends at the hands of the Malachai and his demonic army. She had seen too many ripped apart and murdered. Too many brutally slaughtered.